opinion

Also in this section:
Rumsfeld, Iraq and the War on Terrorism
Lerner, Rumsfeld, sexual abuse and Iraq
Fisher, Coming full circle
Weisbrot, The economy and India's elections
Jackson, Suppress the Mireyista thugs
Bernal, Post-election inventory

I LIKE CIRCLES, the purest form of simplicity. Yet circles can be scary, quite terrifying if you ask me. That's why horror movies always end with a glimpse of new beginning. People didn't coin the whole vicious circle terminology as an social antonym of the biological Krebs cycle. It's a deep, ingrained fear of seeing a bit of future written in every history book, for the most part because history is the sad story of human circumstances.

History repeats our misfortunes because when we are all jolly we forget about it. Seymour Hersh, star writer of the New Yorker and nowadays, like many years ago, the Defense Department's most notorious pain in the rear, won't be remembered as Eugene McCarthy's press secretary. With his reporting of the Abu Ghraib prison debacle, people are reminiscing about the My Lai massacre story that he broke in 1969.

Yep, circles can be scary.

Scary but simple. Many saw it coming --- for starters, Arabs didn't need more reasons to be pissed. Most people don't need a concrete reason to be mad: rationality is a thing of a trashed, enlightened past. Now things are different. But the spin has kept the shakedown guillotine at bay in the militarized marble corridors of DC. President Bush sure knows the politics involved even when his popularity is at a new low, similar to his pre-9/11 poll stats, the odds are he can sure slip back into the power saddle with a little help from his friends at big oil. Gloss is the mafia's middle name --- no wonder people called mobster John Gotti "the Teflon don."

The soaring gas prices are an example, and it's a sure bet the Carlyle Group must be scoring record profits --- this notorious private organization deals in businesses ranging from multibillion oil affairs to taxpayer-funded strategic and security matters and has on its corporate roster celebrity names of infamy like Frank Carlucci (Rumsfeld's close friend at Princeton), Caspar Weinberger, former president Bush and Osama bin Laden's half-brother Shafiq. President Bush Jr. once worked for the conglomerate, years ago at one of its failed subsidiaries, Caterair.

Experts say oil prices are high due to China's raving hunger to industrialize its production facilities, others say that because of Iraqi problems the petroleum industry has failed to keep up its fuel output. But not long ago, one of OPEC's ministers repeatedly said that prices were high due to speculation, today's "f-word" for the learned financial gurus.

Now, if you ask me this whole hot gas issue is a way to profit from problems.

It's not a conspiracy, it's business unusual, as Lou Dobbs might say. Uncertainty shakes down the markets, makes elected prime ministers refuse office in large democracies. But Hell, in the end why are prices oil high? Is it a mere whim of our investorocracy? Not really. There are always institutional interests pulling the market strings. Especially now, when Bush needs money --- a lot of it --- to pull back over the 50 percent poll cap. There are a lot of interests (and easy profits) at stake. His friends are helping and in return, he's sure helping his friends. Greenspan will keep inflation at bay with the gradual interest hikes, the dollar will make a comeback and imports, pegged to the recovering job market, will ease demand and continue to keep inflation in check, despite the oil prices. That is, if --- a big if --- all goes as planned. The circle will be complete.

Circles are simple, like I said --- but ask the divorced: wedding bonds can be broken due to unforeseen circumstances. And if we want to start recovering our dignity as human beings, it's imperative to insist on breaking this wedlock between what's left of democracy and big oil interests. If we can't, Spain's upcoming royal wedding will be dwarfed by another worldwide event that due to its graphic content will not be televised --- Hate will marry Hunger and kiss every time Hell breaks loose closer and closer to our homes.


Eloy Fisher is a Panamanian writer and columnist, author of three books; his most recent work, "Diario en Verso" is a poetry collection; his work was recently included in the poetry anthology "Construyamos un Puente: 31 poetas nacidos entre 1957 y 1983" and his newspaper articles appear frequently in Panama's daily newspapers. You can read his his Spanish column, "Una esquina no tan neutral" once a month at Expresiones magazine (http://www.expresionesamp.net)


Also in this section:
Rumsfeld, Iraq and the War on Terrorism
Lerner, Rumsfeld, sexual abuse and Iraq
Fisher, Coming full circle
Weisbrot, The economy and India's elections
Jackson, Suppress the Mireyista thugs
Bernal, Post-election inventory